#at this point he doesn't really understand the difference between leaving her in her own time and l leaving her in her own time *to die*

[genderqueerpond]

The first Doctor had two companions die horribly, in a row, in quick succession. This really upset Steven, who was there for all of it. Steven is grieving. Steven is, possibly, blaming him a little bit.

When faced with the prospect of adopting a new companion, he won't. Traveling with him could just get her killed, and Steven will be terribly upset about that. If she dies off his watch, that's not his fault and not his responsibility. Steven can't blame him for that. This is where she belongs, therefore it is best to leave her here, no matter what may happen. He hasn't stolen her. Stealing people away only to get them killed far from home is wrong. See, he's finally learned that! He is not doing it this time. He has such good self restraint! Steven will be proud of him for this. Steven will be pleased that he is being responsible.

But Steven is angry.

It doesn't make sense, he's doing the Right Thing! It's very confusing.

Better take the next girl to come along. Now Steven is happy. Humans are so inconsistent and impossible to understand!

[tender-rosiey]

since requests are open, i wanted to ask for pregnant!readerxgojo where the reader is currently 9months pregnant with her first child and is grocery shopping with gojo

details — gojo satoru x f!reader

a/n: husband!gojo is attentive and I don’t take any criticism on that

"satoru, get up."

"but I don't wanna!"

taking a deep breath, you thank the heavens for having a husband like gojo. it really prepares you for having a child of your own. you would like to bet that gojo is more difficult than any child out there but you still have to deal with him right now.

you cross your arms and huff, "satoru, we need to go grocery shopping."

satoru grumbles and cuddles the pillow closer. his eyes drifts to you, his pretty wife, and then to your stomach. his lips curve into a small smile and he sighs happily. you're pregnant and soon, you will finally be able to see your little girl.

he will finally be able to hold her in his arms. the thought itself makes him giddy.

"you're really going to leave your very pregnant wife go shopping all by herself?" you pout but he doesn't concede.

he sits up, stretching, "are you implying that my wife is weak?"

"of course not, I am a strong and capable woman on my own!"

he makes his way to you and pulls you close. you look up at him and tilt your head with a cheeky smile, "so you going?"

he hums and presses a kiss to your shoulder, "I can't leave my girls alone, after all," his hand rests on your stomach, "though, I am sure my pretty girl here will protect her mama well."

and it's like she hears and understands him as she lightly kicks. satoru beams then looks you in the eye, "I think I am going to be her favorite," he teases, expecting you to bicker with him, tell him that the favorite will obviously be you.

he wasn't prepared to be met with a gentle smile and eyes so full love it almost scares him.

he gravitates towards your touch anyway cause who is gojo if not a lover of adventure?

the caress of your hand has him melting to putty. you then speak up with a content sigh, "well, you are my favorite so it would be nice if she shares the same sentiment as her mama, no?"

he nods with smile, closing his eyes for a moment then abruptly straightening himself, "okay!" he claps his hands eagerly, "time for shopping!"

so now you two are grocery shopping, more like you though. you look through different brands of each thing and you try to take satrou's opinion. but he is as useful as the shopping cart he is pushing.

"satoru, should I pick this or this?"

"I don't see the difference?"

still, he does provide good company and there are some things that he gets that make you want to hug the hell out of him. for example, you were troubled between two types of spreads and satoru came to the rescue.

he read the ingredients then chose one right away. a part of you thought that he didn't actually give it some thought but then he speaks up, "you're allergic to the other one and it has some ingredients that you hate, sweets," he looks at you, confused, "that should've been an easy choice."

your eyes tear up and you pull him into a tight hug, "SATORU, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!"

and the way he lights up at your affection is so very cute. he returns the hug tenfold—mindful of the little girl in you.

another thing that satoru is pretty good at while shopping with you is attracting attention. attention that he eats up like no other.

he poses and entertains the kids. he is chatting with the aunties and you’re left squeezing the hell of one poor bell pepper. you did bring up putting a leash on him, but, of course, he was encouraging of the idea to the point you had to smack him with a pillow.

“papa needs to be humbled, huh, baby?” you hum to your baby with a smile.

though, something that satoru never lets you forget is that even if he enjoys the attention from others, he truly only craves yours and only yours. one way he does is through his eyes. even when everyone’s focus is on him, his eyes are on you, so full of yearning and adoration.

and both of you know, that at the end of the day, he comes back to you. just like now.

“y/nnn! look what I got!”

you look at him and your jaw drops. satoru is all smiley and joyful…and he has about 10 bags worth of baby clothes, “satoru—I—what—why?!”

he takes his sweet time answering you, “yes: you, baby clothes for our princess, and because she deserves to be spoiled!”

“you just got 20 last week?!”

“I never said I was a ‘careful’ spender,”  he starts rummaging through one of the bags and gets out a box of jewelry, a filled to the brim box of jewelry, “I got you these as well! I remember you brought 2 new dresses and there were others that you couldn’t find matching jewelry for so—are you crying?”

forgetting about the bags, he pulls you into am embrace and coos, “aww, my pretty girl is all sentimental," his thumbs wipe the tears so naturally and he presses sweet kisses to your cheeks, "hormones got you all messed up, baby?"

“I don’t care about the jewelry.”

“ouch.”

you sniffle, “it’s just the fact that you remember these things that gets me all soft.”

“of course, I do!” he starts squeezing your cheeks together, “you’re my baby, my mochi, my honey bunny, my pumpkin—“

whining, you push his hands away, “satoru, people are watching!”

“so?”

you grumble, giving up on literally everything, “let’s just go home,” you yawn a little, “I am feeling a little tired anyways.”

satoru starts carrying the bags right away and he does it with so much ease, you would think he is just folding a piece of paper. on top of that, he doesn’t leave your side and makes sure that he’s there for you to rest or steady yourself.

you don’t get very far though.

“satoru.”

“yes, pretty?”

“my water broke.”

“WHAT?!”

taglist: @magenta-cat-drawingss @pompompurin1028 @scul-pted @dazaisdeathwish @requiem626k @nameless-shrimp @shinys-bsd-world-1 @sonder-paradise @ravenina14 @jessbeinme15s-notebook @todorokichills @ginneko @missrown @shrynkk @simplyxsinned @beautiful-is-boring @starlostlaiba @izukus-gf @irethepotato @thekaylahub @dazaisbloodybandages @aeanya @sweetcloudsimp @moon-catto @the-midnightskies @pianopuppygirl @gojosblackqueen @jisbizarre @kunikida-simp @fiona782 @kisakitwister @imjustasimpxd @psychopotatomeme @dreamcastgirl99 @watyousayin @doobiebochana @laylasbunbunny @hojicha-expresso @4sat0ruu @nineooooo @chuuyasboots @alekssashka7 @rieejjyubi02 @wemma67 @nothisispatrick300

copyright © tender-rosiey

do not copy or plagiarize or you will be reported

[yawnderu]

If Simon and bimbo!reader ever had a big fight (not petty disagreements), what would they fight about? How do both handle serious fights and making up?

ahhhh :((( anon when I catch you. It'd likely be at the beginning of the relationship, before she knows about his job and he always leaves for weeks without telling her much about it

>Simon and bimbo!reader fight and make up.

“I just don't understand why you do this to me... just tell me.” Your voice is as pleading as it is demanding, eyebrows furrowed and face scrunched up in a mix of frustration and sadness.

“I can't—” He's interrupted by a small scoff coming out of you, your arms crossed as you look away and take a deep breath. He's never seen you like this before, never so... frustrated and angry. Anxiety starts to fill his soul within seconds, stuck between wanting to keep you away from his job, and wanting to reassure you.

“Do you just.... have a second family or something? Is that what it is?” The accusation makes his own face scrunch up in a mix of mild disgust and confusion. Was his unwavering loyalty to you not obvious? He never even looks at other women at all, his eyes are for you only.

“I don't.” It's all he can say to defend himself. How does he go about telling you he kills people for a living? Sure, he's protecting the world and serving the Queen, but would you look at him differently when you find out the same hands that are so gentle with you will forever be tainted with another's blood?

“Then what is it, Simon?” You never call him Simon. Even when you first met, you've always called him Si. He lets out a small sigh, shaking his head. He doesn't want to be around to fight, he just wants it all to be okay like before— yet he also understands why you're acting that way after months of being kept in the dark.

“I'll be back later.” He turns around to leave the shared flat, only being stopped by another scoff.

“Fine. Leave like you always do.” It was a low blow, you can tell that much by the way his muscles visibly tense up, bulging out of his black shirt. He shakes his head, the hand on the doorknob trembling slightly. He loves you more than anything, but can he really handle seeing the expression on your face when he tells you why he's away?

“'M in the military.” He finally turns around, walking back to you and holding your hand, sitting down on the couch and pulling you on his lap, one of his hands running down the length of your hair.

“SAS. I'll show you my contracts if you don't believe me.” He's willing to do anything to make you believe him. Each silent second only increases his anxiety, barely managing to look down at you just to see the gears shifting in your brain, putting two and two together.

“.... Is that why you always stink when you come back?” There's enough mirth in your tone to let him know you're joking, barely managing to hide the smile tugging at your lips.

“Y'sniff me like a fuckin' police dog when I'm back, love. You like it.” No matter how much you roll your eyes in fake annoyance and pretend you don't like it, you both know the truth. You cuddle up closer to him, resting comfortably on his burly body.

“Y'wear the cool uniforms, Si?” Your voice is softer, almost shy to even ask the question. He knows you like masked men— he's heard you rant about Pyramid Head and Ghostface enough times already. He hums softly in reply, nodding his head.

“Sometimes. Cool mask and all, you'd like it.” He's just teasing you at this point, trying to hold back a smile when he feels you rapidly shifting in his arms just to get closer to his face, unable to hide your excitement.

“Yeah? Can I see?” Your giddiness is almost contagious, making a deep chuckle finally escape his lips. You're not looking at him like he's a monster, you're simply excited about the idea of him wearing a mask. Maybe letting you see Ghost isn't a bad idea.

“Hmm...” He drags out, looking away and pretending to think about it just to tease you. The smack to his arm is enough to make him grin at you, stealing a kiss before adjusting you on his lap, finally allowing his body to fully relax.

“Yeah, I'll show you.”

Bimbo!Reader Masterlist

[eldritch-spouse]

Any of your demon OC’s reaction to being summoned but the magic feels powerful so when they get there they expect maybe a collection of wizards but instead it is a very drunk person(reader) who seems very confused but also isn’t against having this very attractive demon in their house.

[I mean, at this rate you could just summon an Icon. But let's not go there yet. Why not Vorago?]

The difference between Vorago and many other demons is that, most of the time, he's ready to be summoned. As the firstborn of Queen Vorticia, he has to be available for a myriad of public contact and more nitty-gritty transactions that his Mother is all too happy to distribute between her many children. The eldest takes on even more work than necessary, purely to train himself for the future, wherein he may rule Gluttony.

So, when Vorago senses a rift opening with a request for him, the royal glutton merely brushes his outfit, adjusts his mane, and stands appropriately, waiting to be transported. It's no shock to him that a rather surprising amount of magic is used during these instances, you do not simply summon a royal without obtaining much training in the field, or on your own for that matter. While the process takes place, Vorago searches his head for who this might be. The blood signature utilized doesn't ring any bells, so it might be a first contact summoning. Giving a good impression is more important than ever if that truly is the case.

Vorago steps into the rift with an adequately serious expression and a hand behind his back, expecting some kind of fanfare or overzealous greeting.

There are few words to describe his confusion at the sight that greets him. Astonishing, really, as he considers himself verbose.

The prince finds himself in a rather homely, completely informal setting. Someone's house, he deduces, given the smells present, the well-worn furniture. No group, no organization, no sect, not even a pair is there to receive him, only one human.

He sniffs.

One very intoxicated human.

He can only wonder what's happening to you, where you hail from. How you've gotten to this point.

The glutton stares hard at you. Something that another summoner may find rude of him, but you're hardly composed enough to notice. There's no incredible, burning desire within you. You don't stink of desperation and madness, you aren't covered in sin.

You're just a human woman, meddling with what most definitely doesn't concern someone like you.

" ... O- " You finally seem to notice there's someone else in the room. " Oh? "

" Oh. " Vorago parrots, feeling a brand new crease form on his forehead.

Silent moments pass.

You really should blink more, he assumes your eyes are losing moisture from the moments where you stare at him blankly, like a donkey.

" I suppose, when you're sober, you'll gather the wits to grovel... "

Vorago isn't particularly cruel, but he'd be a bad example if he allowed summoners to think they can get away with this type of behavior. To summon a demon of royalty while entirely shitfaced is to cause great offense to said royal lineage. It can warrant more than death, it could set curses upon your loved ones. Vorago understands mistakes happen, but humans of all people, are too frail to afford these grievous acts of buffoonery.

So he needs to cause a healthy amount of panic in you, which he will, when you become sober.

" Hhmn? " You sluggishly tilt your head.

The firstborn takes a few steps forward on the borderline nonexistent circle you've thrown together on the ground. It's more of a misshapen oval, with not a tenth of the power you'd require to keep him properly contained. Really, Vorago could blow it away with a sigh.

He squats, using his hands to gesture and speaking slowly, the same tactics he'd use to make his toddler-aged siblings pay attention.

" Human. Listen closely. " No self-respecting prince would be stooping this low. " Now that you have made the mistake of summoning me, we need to establish a formal deal, so that I can leave. "

You don't offer much of a reaction for a while. Vorago sincerely wants to slap the back of your head. Though he imagines you'd tumble face first in a graceless display of alcoholism.

He can only tense hard when you spread your arms and latch onto his shoulders, running clumsy hands through his thick hair.

" Hahah... Hah. You're sooo cute. You should stick around. "

You're so fucking wasted.

The glutton is speechless, face darkening. He allows himself to feel this for a few seconds, ideas suddenly swirling in his head while an admittedly pretty human plays with his hair. The large demonoid shivers slightly. You'd look even better if you weren't so visibly drunk. For as much as he craves and writes about this type of contact between monster (demon) and human, he's never had the pleasure of experiencing it firsthand.

A small eternity passes before he forces himself to pry your small -Delicate, so fragile, so soft- hands away and rises.

" Any suggestions, summoner? " His tail swishes.

A grin tries to settle on your cheeks, it's struggling. " You. Me. The couch. "

Vorago has to run a hand down his complexion and breathe in deep. Oh trust him, that couch wouldn't survive. Still, this is no way to try his hand at charming a beautiful person.

" No. " He chastises. " I have a proposal. Do you read, human? "

This could backfire very hard. He knows this.

" Ehh, yeah, I guess. " You shrug. " Sometimes. When my favorite authors upload. "

Upload. The top eye in Vorago's head widens, his hope shining clearly.

" Then let's do the following. I provide you with written works, and, in turn, you act as a proof-reader, letting me know what I could adjust. "

Particularly how accurate his portrayal of humans and the opposite gender is.

" You write?! "

He almost feels offended that you're so surprised. " Yes. "

" Fuck yeah! "

He chuckles purely from how ridiculous this is getting.

Vorago nods, using a foot to disrupt the summoning circle and leaning down with an outstretched hand, the other reaching for a vial on his coat pocket.

" Brilliant. Allow me to collect your blood signature then. " Because you're too shitfaced to sign anything, he presumes. " You will be contacted so we can schedule our first meeting. "

Well, he thinks happily, no one can accuse him of having no references now.

[cantdothis-nomore]

how would the upper moons react if they found out that muzan wants to eat their partner since they suddenly gained the ability to survive in the sun

Upper Moons finding out that Muzan wants to eat their s/o!

Just a side note i now write for metal family :)

Kokushibo

• Would be horribly alarmed

• wouldn't know what to do because of his loyalty to Muzan but also his loyalty to you as your boyfriend

• he'd be stunned knowing you could walk in the sun amd understand muzans interest in you but after a while of thought he'd hide you somewhere safe

• well he thought was safe

• He'd have to repeatedly find different places for you to hide as Muzan kept finding you so you'd be in a different place every day.

• he'd be suffering aswell at Muzans wrath but also his own inner conflict about where his loyalty actually lies

• Muzan would use threat after threat after threat and even physical things to get Kokushibo to tell him where you were but he wouldn't no matter what

• because his loyaltys lay with you.

Douma

Would make the people of his cult help hide you

He'd straight go to hide you because you are the only person who has shown him proper affection and he doesn't want that to go away

He would admire you and beg you to tell him how you managed to walk in the sun but would remind himself there were bigger matters to handle

No matter the torture he underwent by muzan and the others in the 12 kizuki he wasn't letting go of you

Would always make sure nobody was following him on his way to see you

After finding out that Muzan wants to eat you he would try and be his normal self whilst mentally shitting himself thst someone would find you

He would always have someone to protect you whether it was him or one of his followers

He'd give false locations of where he had 'seen' you last but always in the day knowing that Muzan can't go in daylight just like thr rest of them

He isn't giving up on you anytime soon

Akaza

He would refuse to harm you or let anyone else harm you so his first instinct was to go into hiding and not inform anyone at any point of where you two were

Avoiding Muzan like the plague

He'd be wary about going out and only going when you two got really hungry to get a human

He already lost Koyuki, he refuses to lose you to especially to Lord Muzan

You guys would go from one hiding spot to another every week to make sure there was no risk of him or any of the others finding you

PROTECT YOU WITH HIS LIFEEEE

This man loves you too much to let you go

Would absolutely fight anyone who tried to get to you at any point

Enmu

Literally got nothing to say for him I'm sorry lol

Would turn you in to Muzan no hesitation

His love for you may be strong but his dedication to Muzan and his weird little blood fetish is stronger

Bye bye to you

Daki

She'd be torn between giving you in to Muzan or hiding you

Her dedication to Muzan, like Enmu, is strong but she has to decide whether her love for you is stronger

Her internal debate drives Gyutaro CRAZY

Would be desperate for Muzans praise but also doesn't want to lose the feeling you give her and the affection you show her

She would half hide you half leave you alone whilst she made her decision

If she chose to hide you, she would have to flee the Entertainment district and not tell anyone where she was going

If she chose to turn you in she would probably have that on her conscience for the rest of her days until eventually slain

Gyutaro

First reaction would be to flat down refuse and not turn you in to Muzan

You were the first one apart from Daki who showed him the love he actually deserved, who made him feel worth it when he didn't himself.

Would probably force Daki to hide you for him against her wishes as she is loyal to Muzan

After separated from her, he would constantly be at your side and in the day Daki would force one of the girls from her house to be with you instead

He would make you go into different spots regularly to throw any other demons off of your trail in fear of someone finding you

Would be constantly paranoid about everyone and everything around you

10/10 would make you trail after Daki if for his sanity more than yours

[piracytheorist]

Twilight Eyes Project: "Secure a Wife" (part 2)

First part here

Naturally, "Twilight eyes" stay on during his side mission with Franky. Then he bursts into Camilla's party, wounded and disoriented enough to mess up his introduction.

And thus... slightly different expressions from manga to anime.

In the manga, it's full-on Twilight eyes. Brow going downward to the center, focused and narrowed eyes. The anime has the first two, though as of focused eyes... they make use of animation to show he's so shaken he can't focus his eyes on one place. His slip-up does look funnier when he's trying to present himself as Very Put Together™ as he does in the manga, but I think it's funny either way. Also, I appreciate the small extra whump bone from the anime.

Continuing on the humorous aspect, he switches all the way to reassuring Loid eyes as he tells everyone how absolutely, definitely normal his situation is. No biggie. Just a head flesh wound. He sleeps those right off.

"Loid eyes" stay on as he continues his ploy. Nothing to see here, please continue, are you having fun, my dear wife whom I definitely did not meet just a couple days ago?

Those eyes keep up until Camilla tries to embarrass Yor in front of everyone with details about her "past job"... and here goes.

Loid eyes. He will show everyone how proud he is of his wife.

But then, slowly, his eyes don't look so strained anymore...

... until they're outright sad eyes.

The direct proof (along with the short flashback) that what Twilight says there is the truth for him: he doesn't judge Yor, instead, he honestly supports and praises her for her dedication and her strength.

And when he finishes his praise, he looks towards the others... and the audience doesn't get to see his eyes.

Yor does.

And the truth she sees in his eyes is enough to not only bring tears to her eyes, but to also stay with her and give her strength multiple chapters/episodes later.

This smile isn't the one he actually gave her. But it's the one she remembers.

(Wrong angle in the anime, but we can forgive that)

They leave Camilla's party, get attacked by the smuggling ring, Twilight knocks a few of them out and tells Yor to run for it, Twilight eyes on as he keeps himself alert for any possible attack.

Yor voices her worries about the well-being of his "patients"... and what else can he do but put on the Loid eyes. Which I'm actually sure weren't necessary with her, lol.

Unstoppable force (Yor believing everything she sees and hears) meets immovable object (Twilight suspecting everything and everyone).

Subtle Twilight eyes as he starts to question... well, his own judgment, at this point 😆

They get attacked, and Yor kicks a guy into another dimension before he can hurt Loid. And!

I would just really like to know what his thought process here was. This look is on the verge between "Loid eyes" and "real eyes". But this next panel/shot feels like it's closer to "real eyes".

He was actually amused by how far she kicked that guy, huh 😆

They kick a few more guys' asses, then Yor drops the "why don't we get married" question. Twilight is, understandably, shocked and confused. It's actually something he'd planned for, but it came unexpectedly and just so freely and willingly from Yor.

When his mind picks up from the shock, he puts on the thought process.

And we get investigative eyes.

Twilight accepts, gives her the best marriage proposal to ever grace a screen, starts with Loid voice for "Even in sickness, or in sadness," and switches to Twilight voice for "No matter what hardships await us, let us be there for each other."

Twilight eyes as he finishes his vows,

And... this, as he thinks "Until my mission do us part"

I want to make it clear that I completely doubt he'd already grown any feelings for Yor already. Probably the only thing he'd feel for her at that point was that he sympathized with her mental fortitude and willingness to sacrifice herself in order to protect and support someone she cared about. The pleasant face he has at the end could be merely his expression of relief that the mission was going smoothly.

But then, isn't that what becomes the foundation of the feelings he'll grow later? The relief that she is the kind of person who will protect the peace he fights so hard to maintain himself? A relief that will grow strong enough to lead him into revealing true parts of himself to her?

There's definitely a lot to take away just from the way Twilight's eyes are drawn, in any case.

(anime only fan here, don't spoil me for the manga)

[balsee]

okay normally i like the way oda writes a story, but man oh man do i hate how sanji and nami part ways in whole cake island. it just leaves such a bad taste in my mouth. like i get it, nami doesn't understand why sanji is leaving them, and she has every right to be hurt and upset when sanji and luffy start fighting. how could she be anything but? however, i think nami's decision to slap sanji was completely uncalled for. and even then, i can still see why she does it. nami is deeply afraid for her captain and her crew, and in this moment, she probably thinks that sanji really isn't coming back to them. after everything they've been through together, she still sees someone she loves hurting another person she loves and leaving, and she's helpless to do anything about it. all of those emotions manifest themselves when she hits him. it's not a mature or logical or compassionate response by any means, but it is just a tad bit understandable when you try to put yourself in her shoes.

or, at least, it would be, if oda had resolved this particular issue differently.

once nami finally understands why sanji decided to leave in the first place, once it finally clicks for her that sanji is sacrificing himself for the sake of his true family, it would've been so great to see anything resembling some sort of an apology or heart-to-heart between the two of them. but we don't get that. obviously, nami being there with luffy when sanji leaves the crew is done on purpose, and how amazing would that purpose be if nami, at some point, (be it before or after she discovers why sanji left), tried to reach out and tell him that she knows exactly why he's doing all of this. if anyone can understand why he decided to push them away, it's her. she understands his mindset of cutting ties with the crew, because the darkness he's spent so long trying to run away from feels so much bigger than them at their best, and all he's trying to do is save them from it. it would've been such a wonderful call back to nami's own struggle with arlong, and would provide an important piece of character development for the both of them. nami would be the one to give sanji that verbal and emotional support he so desperately needs, and luffy would be the one to give him the tangible proof of it.

a lot of people say that the whole altercation between luffy and sanji would've been way better if zoro or usopp had taken nami's place, but i don't think so at all. i think that nami had to be there, because who else could've given sanji that comfort but the one who had been the first to pull away? who else could've told him: you saved me. you didn't let me go, now let me do the same for you. only nami, in my opinion, could've been the one to give that to sanji.

or, at least, she would have, if oda had written it differently.

[doublechocolate]

Haibara dissecting Conan/Shinichi like he's some kind of experiment ksjksjf

I think it was around this time when I started to seriously ship them. Haibara, at this stage, was still given the "cold and mysterious" status of a character but the story didn't shy away from showing us how her empathy extended beyond her own needs. She was well aware of Conan/Shinichi's pain, and also Ran's, because she finds herself to be in that same position as them, and has gone through layers of her own emotional turmoil by this point to recognize this.

But more than that, it's blatantly obvious here that if there's anyone who can understand Conan, it's her. There's a level of understanding between them that's deep and personal. And yes, Conan has that with others too, you can argue that, but what he has with Haibara is slightly different. You see, their "friendship" was born out of pain and trauma. They were each others' "doom", in a sense. Haibara created the APTX4869 drug while Conan failed to save Akemi. They saw the sides of each other that others haven't and had to learn to trust each other in their own way. Slowly, they grew to understand one another and from doom, they became each others' hope.

(Long rambling under cut)

There are many instances of Conan being able to understand Haibara's thoughts by merely watching her actions but to me, the one that stood out the most was none other than m26 Black Iron Submarine (not canon to you but canon to me) when they were underwater and Haibara is about let Conan's hand go but he pulls her back up. The entire conversation takes place inside their heads yet they knew exactly what each other was saying. Remember that post I made about them being drift-compatible?

That's why I think Conan is still unaware just how big of a presence Haibara is in his life. He came close to that in m26 but with Pinga, BO and Haibara's kidnapping, he didn't exactly have the time to sit and ponder over it. Surely people (non-shippers) would chalk it up to you, "aakchuallyyyy he just needs her for the antidote". But... are you sure? Are you really, really sure that that's all he is to her? Is that all you understand about Conan/Shinichi as a character? Even Takayama Minami and Hayashibara Megumi commented on how Conan losing his cool and becoming short-tempered when Haibara got kidnapped was unusual of him. In their opinion, the only reason why Conan calmed down was because of Agasa and how the Prof almost risked doing something reckless to save Haibara. Only then Conan realized he needed to remain calm to keep Agasa in check.

And also, Haibara noticed Pinga and Vodka's presence in the hotel first but Conan only noticed when Haibara was in danger. His train of thought literally went; something happened to Haibara -> it's the Organization -> oh shit they've taken her. Like, hello?? Excuse me?? What is this soulmate-level telepathy going on here right in front of my salad??

I've ~kinda~ mentioned this before in a passing before, but CoAi lowkey reminds me of SyaoSaku (from CCS) but in a different font - a more painful and (perhaps) tragic one. Haibara being Syaoran's counterpart, and Conan being Sakura's counterpart. Example; Sakura's infatuation for Yukito was loud and out there, literally everyone knew about it too (Conan/Shinichi with Ran). Meanwhile, Sakura's love for Syaoran was already growing quietly within her. She was showing signs of it but was too distracted to realize it, until the time came when Syaoran was going to leave Japan and return to Hong Kong. All of a sudden it hit her like a train that it was too painful to let him go (Conan/Shinichi with Haibara/Shiho).

This is why I'm convinced that when all of this is over, Conan will have to face the reality of just what Haibara means to him. It doesn't matter if Aoyama doesn't want to explore this, or chooses to address this in a different way. It's his story, he can do what he wants. But personally for me? I know Conan simply cannot go back to his original life as Kudou Shinichi anymore. He's too far changed, forced to recognize the grayness in a world he deemed black and white, empathize with people he would have classified as "criminals" in the past, and live a life of white lie even it meant hurting the people he cared for the most - in short, Conan/Shinichi simply cannot go back to being the same person he was before Tropical Land. And the one person we know for sure who will be able to understand him despite all of this, is Haibara.

I saw a comment once saying that CoAi/ShinShi are supplementary and wouldn't work. I disagree because I think they are more of a narrative foil. Haibara's existence in Conan's life taught him that he isn't invincible (failure to save Akemi) and that not everyone from the Black Organization are cold-blooded assassins. Haibara had her life and freedom stolen from her. Conan, otoh, taught Haibara to live. To not run away from life and to learn to trust people again. All the important people in life left her at some point, but Conan was the only one who kept coming back for her when she chose to give up, holding her hand as tightly as he can.

Conan, the boy who has everything. Haibara, the girl who lost everything. Conan, the boy who keeps trying to dig deeper into the viper's nest. Haibara, the girl who has lived in the viper's nest trying to pull him back from diving further. Conan, the boy who wants to keep tempting fate to save his friends. Haibara, the girl who is willing to die to save her friends. Conan, the boy who thinks his actions of holding back his love is immature. Haibara, the girl who understands his pain enough to know he is anything but. Conan, the boy whose life changed because of the drug Haibara created but in a way also saved his life (Gin chose to not shoot him in the head but fed him the drug instead). Haibara, the girl who lost her sister because Conan couldn't save her but now he'd do anything to make sure she stays alive.

Whether you ship them or not, or see them merely as friends, you can't deny that they play huge roles in each other's lives. We know that when the end comes, Haibara will be willing to let Conan go. She might have already prepared herself for this, even, because Ran is the last person she'd want to hurt at this point. Her resemblance to Akemi is too strong now and she knows Ran adores her a lot too. And from that scene above, we know Haibara feels the same pain Ran and Conan/Shinichi are going through.

But. Will Conan be able to do the same? Can he simply let go of Haibara and return to his old life? Even if Haibara/Shiho does remain in his life, when the dust is settled, can he truly move on from the person whom he has experienced so many life and death encounters with, and in a way, shaped him into becoming the person he is today?

We know the love is one-sided now because we're almost always seeing it from Haibara/Shiho's perspective. But how can we be so sure that something isn't growing deep down in Conan/Shinichi's heart too? If it's something subtle and quiet like the flap of a butterfly's wings now, eventually growing into something that could literally change the course of his life?

If you understand Conan/Shinichi as a person, beyond the shipping lenses, then I think the answer is already obvious.

"It's not cause the creator said so. They're just friends and Shinichi already confessed to someone else". Okay, like I said, the creator can do whatever he wants with his story. I AM choosing to read between the lines based on what that same creator has presented to us. I'm also always reminded of the Akai/Jodie/Akemi love story and how that panned out. I'm saying, things can happen because feelings are complex and sometimes you go through experiences in life that changes you inside out. Both Akai and Conan have had their lives stained by the Black Organization.

Not to mention that, in terms of their personalities, CoAi/ShinShi's relationship are quite a stark parallel to Yuusaku and Yukiko's relationship as well. What Conan/Shinichi needs is someone who can match his level of eccentricity yet at the same time call him out when his head floats too high in the clouds. Haibara is that person. And the best part about it is she didn't even have to change herself to match him - that's pretty much her personality already. Fitting in exactly like a puzzle piece.

Anyway, this is long-winded already. i'll stop rambling here. Also, if this breaches containment and reaches a non-shipper/anti and you have something negative to say, please do me a favor and be a mature person. Leave this post and let's both live in peace.

Love you, CoAi nation, bye!

[godlessondheimite]

Will and Emma are having relationship problems because Will is not taking COVID seriously enough ("Therapy"). The next day Will takes his frustration out on the glee club and accuses them of not taking COVID seriously enough (Finn doesn't understand germ theory and Brittany is QAnon.)

Will says, "You guys lack historical perspective. Back in the 80s and 90s there was a young gay composer named Jonathan Larson who saw disease and suffering all around him. When he found out he was afflicted with AIDS, he put all of his pain into the timeless and unreproachable work of art, RENT. RENT taught us about community and caring for one another and more importantly...it taught us that musicals can rock." Will sings the title song from RENT with Artie and Finn.

That night: Santana is fed up with lockdown restrictions and sneaks out of her house to visit Brittany ("Out Tonight"). Brittany is planning a big show that will blow the whole COVID conspiracy wide open. She previews it for Santana ("Over the Moon"). Santana is freaked out and breaks up with Brittany. Santana can excuse ignoring disease prevention guidelines but she draws the line at being Republican about it.

Also that night, Will tries to sleep with Emma but she's too COVID-cautious ("Green Green Dress"). She says maybe they need some time apart because of their different priorities.

While grocery shopping, Will runs into Holly Holliday. Holly is lighting scented candles in the middle of the store but for some reason all of them are defective/unscented ("Light My Candle.") Holly propositions Will. Will says he's seeing Emma, and Holly admits she also has a boyfriend.

"I'm sure we can work something out," Holly says. "Meet me at the basement of the swinger's club at 9:00."

Will shows up at the swinger's club and spots his old rival, Brian Ryan (the Neil Patrick Harris character). They glare at each other, then confront each other and it's revealed that Brian is Holly's boyfriend ("Tango Maureen.") She knew Brian and Will were old high school rivals and set all this up because she's into the whole enemies-to-lovers thing.

Will scolds her. "That is so cruel and manipulative of you. I can't believe you would do this."

Holly tries to convince him to live life to the fullest. ("Another Day.")

Eventually Will thinks about what proud openly gay icon Jonathan larson would do, and he has a threesome with Holly and Brian ("Contact," I'm afraid.)

The morning after, Will can't believe he kind of cheated on Emma/hooked up with Brian and really enjoyed it ("Real Life").

On Monday, Brittany and Santana are still broken up but sitting on opposite sides of the choir room is emotionally difficult for them ("Without You.")

On the way home from school, Kurt and Blaine are like "Aren't you glad we're not like Brittany and Santana, breaking up every 5 seconds over something stupid?" and they sing "I'll Cover You" but then they break up over something stupid.

Will contemplates his sexual awakening, torn between Holly+Brian and Emma ("Johnny Can't Decide/Come To Your Senses" mashup).

The tension in glee club is unavoidable.

"Mr. Shu, this is ridiculous," Rachel says. "Ever since you brought up RENT and Jonathan Larson, it's been nonstop hookups and fighting. Also, Jonathan Larson wasn't gay and he didn't die of AIDS! He was straight and died of some random heart thing."

"What? Jonathan Larson wasn't gay? So my sexual experimentation was under false pretenses?"

Will immediately calls and breaks it off with Brian and they argue ("What You Own").

The next day Santana says "I can't believe we caused this much fuss over a straight man, who died of a random heart thing."

"Wait, just because he was straight doesn't make his words less powerful," Finn says.

"You're right," Will says. "Maybe I'm bisexual." ("Louder than Words.") And then they all sing La Vie Boheme.

At some point Santana and Mercedes sing "Take Me or Leave Me" as their glee club presentation. (It's a four-part episode.) Also I think Gwyneth would have fun with Today 4 U, don't kill me.



[saltywinteradult]

How is Dany is abusive to Jon?

Honest question, I’ve never given it a thought

I'm sorry this took me so long, anon, and I am really sorry for how long this post got. I had a lot of thoughts on this.

Before we begin, I'd like to point you to this compilation of Jon's reactions to Dany, which hardly paints a picture of a man who is happy and in love, as well as this post and this gifset, both pointing out the parallels between Jon's relationship with Dany and Sansa's relationship with Littlefinger, the latter being a relationship I hope most people can agree is abusive.

It's absolutely crucial to remember that in this relationship, Dany is the person with the power. She is the one with the dragons and the biggest army, and she is willing to both use and abuse that power to get her way.

Furthermore, Dany wants the North's loyalty, but the North needs her help. (The fact that it's Dany's duty as well as in her own best interest to help fight the Others is a different discussion; she doesn't seem to understand this anyway.) She has agreed to grant that help, but she could easily withdraw it if she chooses. She has more power than literally anyone else and there's simply no escaping that power imbalance - it permeates every single interaction Dany has with Jon and all the other Northerners for all of s7 and the first half of s8.

I want you to remember how Dany treats Jon on Dragonstone. His weapons and his boat are taken away immediately upon his arrival. She says Jon is "not yet" her prisoner, but 1) that line very clearly implies that she could make him her prisoner if she chooses to, and 2) how much does it really matter that Jon is "not yet" her prisoner when she's already taken away his means of defending himself or leaving the island? Remember how she later tells him "I haven't given you permission to leave." Girl, what happened to Jon not being your prisoner?

I think it's also very telling that Dany never once addresses Jon by his proper title of King in the North, even before he bends the knee. As you may recall, Dany cares a great deal about titles. She never grants Jon the same respect she demands for herself, and she likes to remind Jon that she is his Queen even during a supposedly intimate, romantic scene.

(Gif by yocalio via gameofthronesdaily)

Earlier in this scene, Dany pointed out that they could stay here in this secluded spot, away from the kingdom and its politics, and no one would find them. Yet even here, away from the rest of the world, she makes a point of referring to herself as "your Queen".

I point all of this out to illustrate that from the very beginning and throughout their relationship, Dany views Jon as a subordinate, not an equal. That is very much not a good foundation for a healthy and equal romantic relationship. Her constant expectation is that Jon will submit, obey, give things up to benefit her, and ensure that the people he has power over act the way she wants.

Case in point:

"Your sister doesn't like me. [...] She doesn't need to be my friend, but I am her Queen. If she can't respect me..."

The implication is that Sansa is doing something wrong by not liking or respecting Dany (meaning "not acting deferential enough for Dany's taste"). The fact that Dany is saying this to Jon and not to Sansa herself implies that it's Jon's responsibility to ensure that Sansa behaves acceptably. "If she can't respect me..." Then what? What exactly is she implying will be the consequences? That their romantic relationship will end? Something worse?

At this point, the North has bent the knee to Dany. As their monarch this is not an entirely unreasonable thing to ask of her subjects - but it's not a very reasonable thing for a girlfriend to ask of her boyfriend, is it? The line between Jon and Dany's political relationship as monarch and subject and their personal relationship as girlfriend and boyfriend isn't just blurred, it's practically nonexistent. To state the obvious, there is a reason we decided that absolute monarchies are bad here in the real world. There is also a reason why a boss dating a subordinate is frowned upon in the real world. Big power imbalances are a bad idea in general and in romantic relationships especially. They should at the very least be considered and navigated carefully. Dany not only fails to do so; she is only happy with her and Jon's relationship when she has power over him.

For proof, let's look at how she reacts when that power imbalance is upended by the revelation of Jon's true identity:

This revelation is a bombshell for Jon. Everything he thought he knew about his own origins turns out to be untrue. However, Dany's first and only thought is how this affects her. Her first reaction is denial and scepticism; the second is to turn cold as soon as she realises that this makes Jon a threat to her ambitions.

There's also this line:

"A secret no one in the world knew, except your brother and your best friend. Doesn't seem strange to you?"

Which implies... What, exactly? That Sam and Bran made this up? Why? Just like with Sansa in the previous scene, we see Dany questioning the actions and intentions of Jon's loved ones. Remember that.

Things escalate in episode 4:

Dany is faced with the notion that Jon might hold more political power than she thought, that they might actually be on somewhat equal footing, and this makes her unhappy.

"I want it to be the way it was between us."

Her desire is to continue their sexual relationship and to return to the previous status quo where she held more power than him and therefore didn't consider him a threat. Jon having a stronger claim to the throne than her threatens Dany's sense of her own identity and purpose, and she reacts by trying to deny and suppress this reality:

"You can say nothing, to anyone, ever! Swear your brother and Samwell Tarly to secrecy and tell no one else! Or it will take on a life of its own and you won't be able to control it or what it does to people!"

(Imagine this with the genders reversed. Yikes.)

Dany is demanding Jon keep his own identity secret from his own family. That's not a reasonable thing to ask of a person you love. Not for one second does she show any consideration for how Jon might feel or what Jon might want. It's all about her. Her expectation is that Jon suppress his own identity, his own reality, to benefit Dany's ambitions. Never once does it seem to occur to Dany that what Jon does with this secret is up to him to decide, not her. His agency is of no concern to her.

Jon: I have to tell Sansa and Arya. Dany: Sansa will want to see me gone and you on the Iron Throne. [...] She's not the girl you grew up with. Not after what she's seen, not after what they've done to her. [...] Jon: They're my family. We can live together. Dany: We can. I've just told you how.

Here we are again with Dany questioning the motives and agendas of Jon's loved ones. Now she's no longer implying but outright stating that they're working against her. What we have here is a pattern of Dany implying that Jon's loved ones are up to no good and can't be trusted. I don't need to explain why that is a dangerous and manipulative thing to do to one's partner, right?

I also want you to pay extra attention to how Emilia delivers that final line. Throughout the whole scene Dany is distraught and desperate, but at this point she turns cold and closed off with an unmistakable anger that Jon won't agree to do as she demands. It is very hard not to read a threatening undertone into that line. "Keep it secret, or else."

Before we move on to episode 5, I'd like to highlight this line, spoken by Dany to Tyrion and Varys in episode 4:

"Speaking to Cersei will not prevent a slaughter. But perhaps it's good the people see that Daenerys Stormborn made every effort to avoid bloodshed, and Cersei Lannister refused. They should know whom to blame when the sky falls down upon them."

Let's be clear on one thing here: Cersei could choose to back down and surrender to avoid bloodshed - but, and I cannot stress this enough, so could Dany. Cersei and Dany are both being selfish and power-hungry by refusing to give up the throne in order to avoid bloodshed. But to admit that would ruin Dany's deeply rooted self-image as morally superior to her enemies. So what does she do instead? She deflects blame. She's the one with the dragons, but if she makes the sky fall down on people, as she puts it, it's not her fault. Keep that in mind.

Now for the absolute low point:

"What did I say would happen if you told your sister? [...] She betrayed your trust. She killed Varys as much as I did. This was a victory for her. Now she knows what happens when people hear the truth about you."

Okay. Varys was conspiring against Dany, which he could've chosen not to do; I guess Dany was within her rights to punish him. She still could've chosen to imprison him, or at least give him a trial. Nobody made her kill him. But as we've just seen, Dany doesn't like to accept responsibility for her own decisions. She'd rather deflect the blame onto the people who displease her.

What's more, she's not just blaming Sansa for Varys's death but Jon as well, for telling Sansa the secret in the first place - which Jon was well within his rights to do! He never agreed not to tell anyone. That wasn't up to Dany to decide in the first place. Jon did what he wanted to do and not what she wanted him to do, so now everything Dany does as a result of Jon's actions is Jon's fault? Do I even need to explain how shitty this is?

"Far more people in Westeros love you than love me. I don't have love here. I only have fear."

This is entirely true. She never stops to think about why Jon is more beloved in Westeros than she is, but whatever. What's important is that after this, Dany initiates a kiss and Jon rebuffs her.

(Gifs from snowsource)

"Alright then. Let it be fear."

Again, what exactly do we think she's implying here? Remember the context. During this conversation, Jon already told her "you will always be my queen". He hasn't rejected her as his queen (which at this point he damn well should), he's just rejecting her sexual advances. And yet, Dany's reaction to his personal rejection of her is to embrace "fear", which again refers to how all of Westeros sees her, not just Jon. Dany already deflected blame for her previous actions onto people who displeased her including Jon, and now she's deflecting the blame for her future actions in the same way. And we all know what she did after this, don't we? I don't know how the line "let it be fear" can mean anything other than "you rejected me and that's why I'm going to embrace being feared, so whatever I do now in the name of being feared is really your fault. Look what you made me do." If that isn't abuse, I don't know what is.

[thechekhov]

As an autistic person (who is, to be honest also pretty immature) I also really related to Izutsumi. I understand that my pickiness is unreasonable but that wouldn't stop me from rather not eat that try something I don't like or not know, or that looks bad.

I think maybe we misunderstood each other a bit here.

I don't think the issue is Izutsumi not eating things.

If she simply said "I'm not eating that, I'm going to out and hunt for my own food" that would be completely understandable. Hell, even Marcille refuses to eat some of the things Senshi cooks. Not Eating Monsters is a very relatable part of this story. Most people who the party meets refuse to do that. Senshi and the guys - THEY'RE the weird ones.

In fact, in this panel, Laios is being a jerk on purpose and I'm surprised he got away with only scratches.

I joked about her eating the weird little man, but honestly? If she doesn't want to, why pester her? He was just being Laios.

And in the flashback, Izutsumi dealt with things pretty normally - just give what you don't want to eat to Tade.

No dramatics necessary! Everyone wins. She's a cat, she doesn't need leeks anyway.

But the point at which she kinda crosses a line is specifically this:

She yells at Laios about her limits - fine. A bit unnecessary, given that he's just trying to explain their situation, but whatever.

But she then puts the party in danger by going for the Barometz AND then walks away after initiating a battle, because it doesn't suit her.

The difference between what happened with the Ice Golem and now is consideration. Thinking about how your actions impact the safety of others. While Chilchuck and Izutsumi worked together to fell the golem, the others (Marcille and Senshi and Laios) didn't just wander off to look for NEW problems. They stayed nearby, presumably ready to jump in.

They also didn't split the party, forcing Marcille to give chase in order to assure Izutsumi didn't die. (Marcille is also kinda in the wrong here for leaving others, because she also endangered them, but she did it out of concern for Izutsumi.) (Also, Izutsumi would have died if Marcille hadn't followed her, so it's a fair concern.)

The issue isn't that Izutsumi cares about her own needs. That's a healthy thing that everyone should do!

The issue is that Izutsumi doesn't care about the needs of others, to the point of endangering them for very little reward to herself.

She makes no effort to....make an effort? She yells at the party when things don't go her way and demands they make unreasonable adjustments for her. It's not about when she threw away the mushrooms - like, that was funny and partially expected after Senshi got used to the others eating whatever. Though it IS wasteful....

When I say Izutsumi comes across as spoiled to me - that's NOT because of having personal preferences. She can eat whatever she wants, forever. That's a human right.

But I do think she's selfish for demanding that the world and other characters bend (unreasonably) to her will (because they're in a DUNGEON with limited resources) and make it easier for HER specifically, even though attempting to do so endangers them.

But also, as many of you have pointed out: She's not even an adult, she's 17. I assumed she was like, mid-20s, so her behavior makes a lot more sense now.

[notmeowse]

Solavellan ending and why I hate it

Major Veilguard endgame spoilers under the cut.

I beat the game two days ago and I haven't been able to stop thinking about that ending. I'm not going to get into the rest of the game's flaws. They've been covered at length. But all of those issues aside, the one perfect, untouchable thing I thought I had left as the game drew to a close was the Solavellan ending. After all, Trick wrote the original Solavellan romance and the incredible continuation of it in Trespasser. As lead writer, they were directly responsible for making it happen. I thought we had this in the bag.

So on one hand, my favorite Dragon Age romance finally reunited and disintegrated off into the sunset.

On the other hand, he did not choose her.

This is what ruined it for me. I know a lot of people have issues with her sacrificing her life to join him in the Fade, but that was really a secondary issue for me.

What was the point of their entire relationship if, in the end, when it REALLY counted, he was never going to choose Lavellan over tearing down the Veil? Why did it take Mythal, who he actually killed in the last game in order to take her power, to convince him? Where's the romance in that?

This literally just turned into the story of Lavellan and the elven god who did not love her enough.

Okay, yes, the gamified reason it takes Mythal to convince him is because Lavellan was tacked onto an existing avenue of dealing with Solas rather than being given her own separate option, right? At the end of the game you have the choice to either fight him, trick him, or (if the Mythal-related criteria is met) invoke the essence of Mythal contained in the statue. No Bring Out The Big Guns, Lavellan option.

In my opinion, she should have been the fourth option, only available to players that have an Inquisitor that romanced Solas and encouraged Lavellan to reunite with him mid-game. It would have required about as much effort to do this as it did to have him turn her down once again (which, I maintain defeats the entire purpose of the story being told here). That would have been the absolute easiest fix to this fucking mess.

I understand why Lavellan wasn't counted among his regrets and therefore wasn't in the Lighthouse murals (because he doesn't actually regret falling in love with her) and I acknowledge that getting real closure from Mythal is important to Solas's story, and that it did have its place in that ending scene. Whether she was a lover or a mother to him isn't really the issue here -- it's the fact that she holds sway over him where Lavellan apparently does not. Despite the fact that, again, he killed Mythal in the previous game, despite the fact that he couldn't bring himself to kill the Inquisitor for the anchor, despite the fact that Lavellan was the one single thing in the world that made him really want to walk away from his plans.

(Why wasn't the "I release you from my service" a conversation had between him and Flemythal back in Inquisition? And why is that essence of Flemythal (who now exists in Morrigan) suddenly so chill and pro-Veil? Do we not remember the reckoning that will shake the very heavens? The She was betrayed as I was betrayed, as the world was betrayed? I will see her avenged? No payoff? None? There's so much wrong and bad writing to unpack there, but this is still a Solavellan post.)

Back to him wanting to turn away from his grand plan. The fundamental difference between Mythal and Lavellan, in my opinion, is the way each of them saw him. Mythal asked him to change for her, to leave the Fade, to commit atrocities with her out of love and service. Lavellan only ever loved him as a man, never once asking him to change for her, never asking him to be anything other than himself. In the time they were together, he was able to be the person he wanted to be. It took a very specific set of circumstances and a very specific person that had to fall into place for that romance to happen, which is arguably what made her so special, and what made their time together even more so. It followed, especially with what we know now, that he would want to drop his grand plan to be with her.

In comes Veilguard, which introduced a parallel between Solas/Mythal and Solavellan. In the second memory, we discover that Mythal never once chose Solas over her duty to elvhenan (even when he begged her to lay it down and run away with him) and dragged him along with her to commit unspeakable atrocities (in her words, she broke him). Solas (at that point in the game, when we were witnessing the memories) had yet to choose Lavellan over his crusade, but quite literally loved her too much to bring her along with him. He would not let her do that to herself, he would not do to her what Mythal did to him.

Here's where I feel like I'm losing my mind, because I thought the point of that mural was to foreshadow him eventually choosing Lavellan, as he is very much not Mythal, and is very much looking for a reason to lay it down, to be proven wrong. I also thought the blurb in the Inquisitor character creation menu (who did you romance) was foreshadowing it, as well as the mid-game choice Rook can make to encourage her to reunite with him and change his heart.

So why didn't it happen? I can only assume because they didn't actually want to have any of our choices carry over, let alone the Solavellan option (which they should have realized from the start was a bad call and also fucking impossible to manage given that the game is a direct sequel to Inquisition). The fact that Lavellan is tacked onto an already existing scene rather than being given her own is evidence of this. However, even if she had to be tacked onto the Mythal scene and not given her own, a simple reordering of the events would have fixed the fucking ending. So it could have gone two (very easily manageable and not too much extra) ways:

Remove the part where he turns her down. Remove the entire thing. Morrimythal could have flown up to him before the Inquisitor even arrived on scene, we could have had our statue moment, and just when he thinks he's going to be all alone behind the Veil, Lavellan shows up, they reunite, and she goes with him. (Easiest way for Bioware to fix it imo)

Lav acts as the ace up our sleeve, a fourth option (and a second option to make him lay it down) instead of using the statue to redeem him. Mythal releases him from her service AFTER he chooses Lavellan, thereby releasing him from his guilt over her. I prefer this one. It should have been this. They could have walked away, they could have tied themselves to the Veil, either way works.

Now, I am among those that think the Veil should have come down, which would have rendered this entire thing moot, had it happened. But since Bioware is dead-set on maintaining the status quo in Thedas, it should have been this instead.

In writing this I wonder if I've been completely delusional over their relationship, but going by the reactions to this ending, it seems that what we got was not at all expected.

[peacheeeliz]

005. wooyoung's emojis (1.5k wc)

blue = twitch chat

red = among us chat

milfhos: thought you weren't going to play this game again 😒😒

"Haha, so did I," You sigh. You were currently talking to chat, waiting for everyone to join the lobby. "But Yeonjun thought it would help Yunho and I 'work it out.' Yeah, okay."

Back when Among Us was really popular, the four of you played only that and nothing else. Always hopping into lobbies with each other and fellow streamers, screaming at each other during meetings, or simply doing tasks and remaining unbothered. You guys were the big Among Us streamers of Korea, all until it lost its popularity. After that, you all went into your own different directions and haven't touched the game since.

heartzfrombora: wait but i like how the war is going

"Right!" You exclaim, letting out a laugh. "He just doesn't see this stuff the way I do," you exaggerate, placing your hand on your chest with a sly smile.

strwchaos: I'm loving the yucloudz interactions tho idc if you guys 'hate' each other

Your eyebrows scrunch together at that last comment. "You know I still don't understand this whole yucloudz thing. But, I guess I've never understood ship names," you shrug it off. "But! I can get behind one ship name: Twocloudy."

strwchaos: some people just really like the interactions between you two and created a shorter name that's easier to say lol

strwchoas: i do think some weirdos are actually shipping you two tho... so be careful

milfhos: wtf is twocloudy

"Me and Giselle, obviously," you say, but your chat is just more confused. "Cloudie and Aeri. Aeri. Air-y. Get it?" You laugh, but now your chat is just disappointed. "What? I think it's great, you guys don't know what you're talking about."

faepurity: i'm telling giselle you said those corny ass joke

gigigibaby: i love you but no..

strwchaos: i'm leaving

You laugh again, eyeing the game's lobby to see if anyone else has joined. It looked like everyone else had joined, so you turned deafen off to hear the chaotic jumble of everyone talking over each other.

"Why are we playing this again?" Taehyun groans. "I thought the Among Us life was behind us."

"I thought so too, but I also thought it'd be a nice way to bring us all together again," Yeonjun responds, his eyes busy setting up the settings of the game.

"Was the empires server not enough for you?" Ningning asks next. "God, I don't remember anything about this game. I'm going to die first."

"Yeah, well two specific neighbors don't know how to behave," Yeonjun continues. "Well, one neighbor. The other is just innocently naive."

"Hey," Yuyu pouts. "You were my teacher, man. You should've taught me how to not shoot people with a bow."

You laugh, actually agreeing with Yuyu for once. "He's got a point, Junnie."

"Oh, you shut it," he responds, rolling his eyes. "Okay, I was just thinking we play for a couple of hours? Does that sound good for everyone?"

"Seems excessive, but sure," Giselle answers, sighing. "I better get imposter first, I want to kill Y/N for her stupid Twocloudy name."

"They already told you?" You exclaim, laughing.

faepurity: I TOLD YOU I WOULD

Before you could say anything else in the lobby, the game starts, and everyone turns deafen back on. You wait nervously for your role to be revealed, letting out a breath of relief when you get the Crewmate role.

You run around in your little bean body, simply doing tasks and ignoring everyone else. You stick by Winter and Beomgyu for a while and do a few tasks together, so you know they're clear. Lights are sabotaged and you try your best to stay together, until Hyuka's body is found.

"Okay, motherfuckers, who killed my child?" Yeonjun's voice is serious, despite the fact his 'child' was only killed in a game. "I walked into electrical to fix lights, and the report button popped up instantly."

"You didn't look to see who else could've been there?" Soobin questions, eyebrows furrowed. "The killer could've been in there, man."

"Well, for one, the lights were out," Yeonjun states, finding Soobin's accusations suspicious. "And two, lights were sabotaged. Someone could've walked in there at any minute and found me with a body, doing nothing but wiggling if I didn't report this body."

"Well, Beomgyu, Winter and I have been together this whole time, so we're good," you say, glad to be cleared.

"Yuyu and I were together for a hot minute there," Sungchan explains. "Buuut, I did lose him in electrical just before lights were sabotaged..."

"Wait, what, no," Yuyu exclaims, flustered by the implied accusation. "I split off from you before going into electrical, and I stayed behind to watch cams."

"I did see that the cams were on before lights went off," Taehyun adds. "But that could've been anyone."

"No, it was Yuyu," Giselle states, sticking up for her cams buddy. "We were in there together for a bit until lights were called."

"We don't have a lot of information, so let's just skip," Soobin says, voting instantly.

"Remember, guys, there's still two killers out there," Yeonjun says, voting as well. "So be careful."

Everyone votes and the meeting has passed.

"Who the fuck voted for me?" Yuyu exclaims.

"I've got my eye on you, man," Taehyun whispers, before everyone deafens and gets back to the game.

You stick with Beomgyu and Winter again, continuing tasks, hoping to get a task win. It takes a while for another meeting to be called, and when it does, three more people are dead: Giselle, Ningning, and Taehyun.

"Oh my God, guys," Yuyu starts, almost out of breath. "It's Sungchan, I swear to God, it's him. I watched him kill Taehyun right in front of my eyes."

As Yuyu rants, Sungchan just stays silent before he votes. A famous Sungchan tactic to leave the decision-making to everyone else.

"Look, he's not even saying anything," Yuyu continues. "It's him, guys, I swear to you."

Yeonjun is next to silently vote, but he doesn't stay silent for long. "Yeah, I totally watched Sungchan do medbay earlier, sooo. And we've been together this whole round."

"I was also in there when Sungchan did medbay, so, bye-bye Yuyu," Giselle says sweetly, quick to vote out her old cams buddy.

"You do not have to tell me twice to vote out Yuyu," you laugh, voting instantly.

Within seconds, everyone has voted, and Yuyu's little bean body floats out across the screen and into space. The next round starts, with only one imposter left.

"I'd like to see the last imposter get the rest of us all on their own," you tell chat, letting yourself finally stray away from Winter and Beomgyu. You had to at least give the imposter a chance; plus, you were bored now that all your tasks were done.

milfhos: i can't even tell who it is man

strwchaos: are you kidding it's so soobin

faepurity: idk it could be giselle and she sold out yuyu to make herself look innocent

You're too busy walking laps around the map to pay attention to chat, running into your friends every now and then. You find Beomgyu and Winter again at some point, dancing together under the cameras as Yeonjun watches from security.

You eventually break off from them again, heading back to the cafeteria to see if any bodies were hiding in the top half. But, of course, trying to be a good crewmate would just bring you bad luck as Soobin finds you up there and is quick to kill you.

You stare at your screen with a shocked expression despite already having your suspicions towards him. You accept your fate, flying around as a ghost to keep an eye on your friends until the chat beeps in the corner.

yuyuhoes: at least i didn't kill you :)

cloudiey/n: 凸( ` ﾛ ´ )凸

mysticaeri: omg that's so cute

yuyuhoes: i can't take you seriously with that emoji omg

cloudiey/n: i can't use wooyoung's emojis leave me alone

yuyuhoes: wtf is wooyoungs emojis

cloudiey/n: i've said too much

As you close the chat, your body is reported and another meeting starts. It seems Sungchan was killed sometime after you were, as his name pops up with yours.

"I found her up in cafeteria," Yeonjun says, not having much information about this find.

"It must've been there for awhile because we haven't seen her since we danced on cams," Beomgyu shares, voting as soon as possible.

Winter joins him silently, letting out a quiet giggle as she does. Yeonjun follows suit, voting quietly as well. This leaves Soobin confused.

"You guys are so creepy, I hope you know that," he lets out a sigh, almost accepting fate. "Can you at least explain?"

"Well, Beomgyu, Y/N and I were together almost the whole round, so we're all clear," Winter starts. "And Yeonjun cleared Sungchan against Yuyu earlier, sooo."

"Ah, fuck it, fine," Soobin says, voting. "Not like I can plead my case now."

The other three laugh as Soobin's body flies off into space, ending the game as a Crewmate Win.

"Okay, that was actually fun," you let out with a light laugh. "I don't mind playing for a couple of hours now."

synopsis ⤏ you're trying to peacefully build your starter house on the empires server when your neighbor so rudely (accidentally) kills you, starting the biggest war on the server just one day in.

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ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ taglist is closed!

[traumaboyexo]

Mindful of the Stars (ISAT AU)

My take on the "Everybody else but Siffrin is looping au" but with a twist

Alright gang real legit au idea

Au where while Siffrin is stuck in the loops, he gets into more and more events, beginning to overload him with more and more memories. Eventually, it hits a breaking point where he begins accidentally spilling out these memories and forgetting them.

These memories are then either "picked up" by his other family members, or accidentally passed to them via contactwithh Siffrin. As the loops continue, Siffrin forgets more and more, but the family members begin to remember little by little, now themselves connected to these memories not intended for them.

Eventually, it will reach a point where everyone else in the party can remember through the loops, and Siffrin is only left with certain instincts on things that are important for everyone to make it through the House, unaware of his own past or why they seem to know exactly what to do.

The effects of the memories are now different depending on how they feel towards this event, and may even keep certain memories a secret from the others for various reasons, like Mirabelle keeping the secret of the Bad Touch memory away from Isabeau in fear they might grow to hate Siffrin.

Loop is now forced to work with everyone in the family besides Siffrin, and they're constantly on edge they don't find out about who they really are, while also needing to keep secrets of their own, Siffrin's own secrets.

---------------------------------------------------

Memories:

Memory of Self - Stays with Siffrin. It's the only thing they have left, after all. +5 to all stats.

Memory of Keys - Picked up by Bonnie. Unfortunately, vague directions is the best they can get.

Memory of Ghosts - Picked up by Odile. A mix of mystery, curiosity and terror. Her attack is down, but her ATKSPD is up significantly.

Memory of Touch - Picked up by Mirabelle. She doesn't understand it, and at the same time it frightens her. Her healing efficency on Siffrin and Isabeau is reduced with this memory equipped.

Memory of Fishing - Picked up by Bonnie. Though, children don't have much patience for actual fishing. However, when equipped, each time Siffrin eats the fish head, the entire party scales in ATK by +2.

Memory of Barrels - Picked up by Isabeau, who doesn't really get it. But that won't stop him from checking anyways. Break barrels for a chance to get an item.

Memory of Pillars - Also picked up by Isabeau, who doesn't really get this one either. Also, it's much harder to break down a pillar. But he'll be able to, eventually. When equipped, get a random buff for the next battle when checking any pillar.

Memory of Looping - Picked up by Bonnie. The same school day, over and over again, seems pretty awful. That's why Bonnie needs to support them. Significantly more likely to perform status buffs.

Memory of Sadnesses - Picked up by Odile. The anger and fear running through this memory terrifies her. When equipped, able to hear the thoughts of Sadnesses with Examine.

Memory of Defeat - Picked up by Mirabelle. She can barely believe she let that happen. No more losing. When equipped, upon a family member becoming K.O., revive them and heal entire party, at the detriment of ATK power.

Memory of Victory - Picked by Isabeau. Optimism, with existential dread. Buff everyone else's ATK automatically at the start of every battle, but personally suffer a DEF loss.

Memory of Family - Picked up by Odile. She's embarrassed she would even say such a touchy feely thing. Nevertheless, she too doesn't wish to leave anyone behind. Siffrin gets 2x more exp.

Memory of Bomb - Picked up by Bonnie. The holder of items sadly has no idea where they got this. When looping to The King, get a Bomb(???) that deals randomised damage or effects.

Memory of Knifekey - Picked up by Isabeau. Please be sharp, they used to say. Now they can barely remember. Regular attacks are now split between equipped craft and scissors craft damage.

Memory of Memories - [AND YET, THIS KNOWLEDGE REMAINS FORBIDDEN.] PICKED UP BY LOOP.

Memory of Emptiness - Shall not appear until a husk has been chosen.

[jerreeeeeee]

*"understanding" meaning they know they disagree but also understand the other can't be stopped/thinks they're doing the right thing, whether that manifests as avoiding the topic altogether when they meet, or just weary acceptance and frank conversation; and "antagonistic" meaning at least one of them is actively trying to interfere/stop the other/convince the other to stop, in the interaction itself

i see a lot of different interpretations of barry & lucretia's relationship after the voidfish and i've gone back and forth over what i think so i wanted to see what the general consensus is

my thoughts under the cut

i can't imagine barry realizes what's happened and doesn't try to 'reason with' lucretia for a little while, before eventually somewhat accepting that she won't listen to him, because after a certain amount of time, it just gets exhausting to hope he can still sway her. like i don't think he gives up, he still tries sometimes, because he has to, that's his whole life at this point, hoping and trying and not giving up in the face of isolation and despair and impossible odds, but he knows he has to pick his battles. and sometimes they catch each other on bad days and he’s just really fucking glad to see her and really fucking disappointed in her and really fucking tired, unable to muster the conviction or energy to fight with her.

and lucretia doesn't do much trying to convince barry, because she knows she couldn't get him on board with her shield beforehand, and he definitely doesn't approve of what she did to taako and himself, not to mention davenport (if he even knows about davenport, cause that’s gotta be really distressing for him, right? do you think barry ever tries to kidnap davenport).

i think after that initial period, and certainly after the BOB is created, they're both afraid of what the other is up to, afraid the other will disrupt their own plans, and try to avoid the other detecting them altogether. but, they're also both incredibly lonely and know the other is the only person in the world who understands what's at stake and the burdens they're both carrying, so even though they don't seek each other out often, they both want to, and maybe sometimes do. a conversation after lucretia gets out of wonderland is especially compelling.

i don't think they interact between here there be gerblins and reunion tour, though, mostly because i think lucretia just doesn't really leave the moonbase now that the bureau has some wins and is getting closer to its goal, and as soon as she knows barry's messing with the boys, she's too paranoid at whatever barry's plans are that are completely unknown to her and wants to avoid him in case he's come up with a way to really stop her. and barry is equally paranoid about her discovering his information gathering and keeping him from his plans to infiltrate the moon base, so he doesn't want to show back up on her radar. i don't think lucretia confronted barry when he possessed pringles, because barry still puts the instructions on his coin for the old puzzle, but if he'd been caught, i think he would've anticipated it changing, so i think she discovered it after the fact.

i don't know if i even think they've spoken since lucretia created the bureau, because that's when they start to become, like, "enemies," officially, as lucretia genuinely starts to villainize barry, however reluctantly. although, depending on how much contact they'd had before that, depending on if she's aware of him out in the world working against her or if from her pov he just sorta disappeared somewhere mysterious, maybe she's not even really thinking of barry as 'the red robe,' and more thinking of herself. because she does tell thb originally that the red robes are all dead and gone, and if she'd truly anticipated them coming into contact with barry, wouldn't she have said, there's still one out there, he's dangerous, don't talk to him, etc, like she does later? maybe the red robes story was originally just an easy way to explain away why the relics existed, and privately, to hate herself for her role in it. maybe she doesn't even realize she's villainized her old friend until that consequence makes itself clear by accident, and then there's nothing for her to do but lean into it and turn the remnants of their family against him for real.

[ikkleosu]

Is Isabelle a "fix it fic" for Leah?

(Running back to my first love tumblr because I will not pay Elon to use more words)

So with the release of Isabelle's character bio, confirming Isabelle has romantic feelings for Daryl, it leads me to think more about what I've been suspecting for some time - that Isabelle's story was created to redo the Leah arc from s11, but this time do it right.

So, when we look at the Leah story from Find Me, it's very clear to most people that there was a story there that was meant to go someplace, relating to Carol and Daryl's relationship, that for whatever reason got canned.

There's the obvious parallels they drew with Carol and Leah (repeated dialogue etc), there's the knife that passed from Leah to Daryl to Carol and we were told was going to be significant - and was then never mentioned again. And of course, there's the fight at the end of Find Me that was never resolved on screen.

I think it's safe to say that was all leading somewhere, but because of COVID or the show being cancelled or Melissa leaving the spinoff, or some combination we don't know about - the conclusions from the Leah storyline were dropped, and it left a whole lot of unresolved stuff between Carol and Daryl.

We know Melissa and Norman have both talked about wanting the spin-off to delve into stuff from the main show that wasn't dealt with, and to give time to stuff they felt was rushed over. It's not much of a leap to assume the Leah story is one of those things, especially when we know form Angela Kang's own words that Norman was VERY MUCH not a fan of the Leah plot. So much so he asked for Daryl to kill her at the end of the Reaper arc.

So what if, the Leah storyline was intended to give us greater insight into the Caryl relationship, and specifically Daryl's feelings towards Carol? And Norman, along with the audience was frustrated that instead Leah just killed everything he's said about Daryl's attitude to love and sex, for absolutely no reason.

It's easy then to understand why Norman might want a redo of that chance to tell a similar story but with the resolution that was originally intended.

And so, we have Isabelle. Now, obviously, she's a very different character to Leah... but really, is she?

Both have fallen into a religious cult that helps them deal with their own trauma, and gives them a sense of family they were missing.

Both adopted their sister's child as their own (Leah lost hers, but Isabelle is drive by protecting hers)

Both manipulate Daryl and lie to him to keep him by their side.

Both, ultimately, ask Daryl to make a choice between going back to his family, or staying with them.

I think these similarities are deliberate. And I suspect there will be more similarities once we see season 2 - it looks as if they are both held captive by Genet, and may have similar through the wall conversations to Daryl and Leah when the Reapers held him captive.

So if we assume this is deliberate, we can also assume dialogue references are deliberate. Isabelle tells Daryl she doesn't need a hero - a line that goes back to Leah saying he always has to be the hero, and Carol saying she didn't need a hero during the fight in Find Me.

We also have the starts of the "making it right" dialogue when Isabelle asks Daryl if he could be happy there, and he says he doesn't know if this is where he should be - like Leah asking him where he belonged and he was unsure, but then said "I belong with you". This time, Daryl isn't going to ever say "I belong with you" to Isabelle, because as he said in Find Me he knows where he belongs.

Isabelle having feelings for Daryl is not for nothing. It will - if this speculation is correct - be a chance for things to be set right. If she has feelings she will somehow, at some point, express them. And that is where the storyline will "diverge" (see what I did there?) from the Leah storyline, and this time Daryl will be able to tell Isabelle "why not".

It will resolve the Connie question too, in that way, which was also never answered. Why don't you want to make a move on Connie? And why don't you respond to Isabelle's feelings?

Both are for the same reason, and it feels like this is the chance to finally say it.

I should add that

a) i suspect this will be cliffhanger throughout the season, and will play out like "Daryl's promise" from s1 where we won't know the answer, and it will all be opaque until episode 5 or 6

b) My understanding of the whys this might be happening, and why they gave Isabelle romantic feelings for Daryl, does not mean I like it or I would have chosen this route. I would not.